defend the constitution of the united states of america. we commissioned a survey by public opinion strategies, one of the most respected polling organizations, and let me tell you what they found. in spite of all that talk about it being about the economy and jobs, and jobs and the economy were critical, they found that 32% of the entire electorate on november 2 was made up of conservative and evangelical christians who voted 70%-21% republican, and they were the booster rocket that drove the biggest landslide in a century, and will be the key to victory in 2012 and again.

i know that sometimes when people go to washington they lose 20 i.q. points, and some have more despair than others. there is a tendency sometimes among the punditocracy to think that moral issues should be kept out of polite conversation. that social conservatives should ride in the back of the bus. my message to the national republican party tonight is simple -- if you turn your backs on the pro-family-pro-life consider freezing -- constituency, you will be consigned to permanent minority status. some have suggested we call a

truce on the social and moral issues. i do not know about you, but i seem to remember ronald reagan fighting and winning the cold war at the time he was restoring values and growing the economy. i do not know about you, but i would like have a leader who can walk and chew gum at the same time. who can work on economic and values issues at the same time. the other thing is, doesn't it take to parties to have a truce? if you do not, isn't it unilateral disarmament? as long as barack obama is nominating extremists to the federal bench, including the supreme court, as long as he is funding abortion on demand, and as long as he refuses to abide by his own of it and defend a federal law defines marriage as the federal -- at the federal level as between a man and

woman, we will not cause a truce, we will not be intimidated, we will not go away. we're here to stay and we have heard our right to speak. -- we have aren't our right to speak. tonight you will hear from some great leaders, with great record of accomplishment who aspired to lead our nation. i want you to remember one thing -- in the end, it is not about who seeks to lead us. it is about the character of the nation they seek to lead. our job from this night fourth is not simply to win elections, it is not simply to replace one group of officials with another group, it is rather to restore america so that she is humbled before god, so that she lives according to his principles, so that we care for those who are less fortunate than ourselves,

and so that we are the kind of merciful and righteous nation that is deserving of great leadership. that needs to be our great focus tonight. now, one way that you can do this tonight is by contributing to the iowa faith and freedom coalition. we will have folks who will come down the aisles right now and they will pass out some of it so you can contribute. i want you to know that every dollar that you give tonight will stay in iowa to turn out the largest pro-family conservative vote in the history of the aisle caucuses. that is what we are going to do in the next few years, so if he will bring the house lights up for just a second so those who want to write a check can see how to write it out, you can just write it out to iffc, the

iowa faith and freedom coalition. if you do not have a pen, use a crayon, lipstick, an eyebrow pencil. i want to tell you some very good news tonight about this opportunity to give. because this is not a federal campaign, there's no limit on how much you can contribute. if this were a federal campaign, you could not give more than a couple thousand dollars. tonight you can get any amount. if somebody feels like they want to write a $5,000 check, you can do that. whenever you give, give generously, should give cheerfully so that the work of the iowa faith and freedom coalition can have a major impact, not just on the stage, but on the destiny of this nation. you have an opportunity to determine who the next leader of the free world is, so give

generously, god bless you, and let the caucuses begin. thank you very much, and god bless you. >> the congressman could not be here, and he sent a letter, and andy is going to read the letter. >> thank you very much for your kind invitation to be with you tonight to celebrate another wonderful year. i regret i cannot be with you in the spring kick off. i am deeply proud to be pro- life, pro-family, per-faith, and i want to assure you of my commitment to making sure our issues are heard during the of common caucus season.

2010 was a year in which american people more than ever before in my lifetime held their elected representatives accountable. our founding fathers designed a system of government that is intended to function for the people, not for the government. over the last two years, washington and u.s. congress lost their way. those running spent too much money, grew government to be, at unsustainable levels, but american dreams in serious risk, and forgot the most important job in the elected official has -- to listen to the people. with the help of friends and colleagues tonight, we have begun to see new direction in washington under the leadership of house republicans who are fighting for american -- toward discipline and fuss -- and fiscal prosperity. no longer were weak toss our problems back to that next generation. we would do what others do,

prepare our budgets, invest in the future. thankfully we are seeing the same dedication of principles of common sense government restored in aisle, and i am proud that the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker, and the minority leader working hard in fighting for a better future for all of us. thank you again for inviting me, and please accept my heartfelt thanks. sincerely yours, tom latham. [applause] >> thank you for reading that letter, and i want to also say thank you for the congressman for sending that message to us. there are still some in the governor's chair today, and i forgot to mention governor ray is here. please give him a big hand.

to share our role in investing the nation in the caucus state, with our neighboring state, we have invited the governor of -- a person from omaha to introduce the 2012 republican potential presidential candidates. he is the national man from nebraska and he was the republicans and the door of candidate cuts republican senator candidate in 2006. he earned his degree at his m.b.a. degree from the university of chicago. he was president of the ameritrade became a public corporation. he served as vice chairman and chief operating officer of ameritrade. he is the founder of an asset management co. in omaha. he is the member of numerous

boards and commissions. his family owns chicago cubs baseball team and the associated businesses. please give and i'll welcome to pte ricketts. -- to pete ricketts. >> i would like to say what an honor and privilege is to be here in iowa to cut off the caucus season. important work he did here to lead the nation. i cannot think of a better group of people to lead that important work. you people are fantastic. i would also like the thanks me here.r inviting her give them another round of applause. the first thing we will have

tonight is herman king. grew up in atlanta. his father worked three jobs. he was a janitor, barber, and a show for. his mother was a domestic worker. they knew if they work hard and have faith in god, themselves, and this great country, they could achieve their dreams. they had to dreams -- the first dream west on their own home. the second was to see their two boys graduate from college. the first was realized when he surprised his family by buying a house in atlanta. the second was when his son herman graduated from morehouse college with a dual degree in math and physics. his brother would go on to

graduate from morris brown college. herman continued his education by earning his master's degree in computer science from purdue university while working full- time for the department of the u.s. navy. herman return to his home in atlanta to begin a career working for the coca-cola company. after considerable success there, he moved to the pillsbury corp., and within a short period of time rose to be a vice president. shortly thereafter he later became the regional vice president of pillsbury's burger king division. herrmann was assigned a low- performing unit. he was able to turn around that region to make it the best performing in the country. he then took his biggest challenge by becoming the ceo and president of godfather's pizza. the company was teetering on the

border of bankruptcy and he turned it around within 14 months. his professional success garnered him the respect of his industry peers and they made him the president of the national restaurant association. in this role in 1994 he had the opportunity to talk with president clinton during a nationally televised town hall meeting. he challenged the president regarding his health-care overhaul proposal. when the president had attempted to assure him that his legislation would not harm american business owners and their employees, harmon responded, as you are kept to it -- your calculations are wrong. in the competitive marketplace that does not work that way. his words echoed across america and "newsweek" maintain the promise she -- named him the primary saboteur of "hillary-

care." through his work he was asked to join the board of the federal bank in kansas city and was elected as our chairman. today he hosts a radio talk- show, and as them -- and is a regular contributor to several networks. his choice in his life are his wife and his two children and grandchildren. this is a great american story. as i saw all the candidates who are going to be up here tonight, they represent that great american story. one of the things that it was common to all -- to all of them, was their importance and faith in family. as the foundation of it became. with that would you please help me welcome herman cain.

[applause] >> and thank you. thank you very much. thank you, thank you, they give for being here, because you are here because you care like a lot of people across this country about the future of this country, and they are going to see the citizens' movement that was demonstrated on november 2 of last year the bigger and more impact fall in november of 2012. let it be borne in mind that the strategy of life does not lie in not reaching roles. the tragedy lies in having no goals to reach for. it is not a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity to have no dreams.

as you have heard, my parents had dreams. you and i have dreams. the american dream is under attack. that is the bad news. the good news is we are fighting back. we are fighting back with our faith, and we are fighting about with our freedom to fight back in the greatest country in the world, when we do not like something going on in washington, d.c. steve did not give me a lot time, so rather than go to the many ideas that i have learned from you and listeners for my radio show about what i call common-sense solutions, you can pick one of those -- booklets up. i want to share with the three

of my guiding principles. you will know what type of leader i will be. what type of person i am. they have guided my life, i did the decisions that when i have worked with companies, and guided my family. number one, to the right thing, do the right thing. it was not right to sue the state of arizona when they were simply trying to protect themselves. do what is right. it was not right as indicated earlier for the president of the united states to order the justice department did not enforce the defense of marriage act. that was not right. one of the things that you will always be able to count on from herman cain in any role of leadership is to do what is

right. secondly, one of my guiding principles, we have got to lead this nation from an entitlement society to an empowerment society. the declaration of independence points out those great words that we all remember and here -- life liberty, and the pursuit of happiness --and allow us time i checked, i did not see anything that's said anything about a department of happy washington, d.c. there's no such thing. we have got to become an empowerment society. we've got to empower businesses to create jobs. government cannot create jobs tra. get government out of the way. we have got to empower the states to do what states do best, and that is to solve the

people's problems in the state. problems and issues that might be in power, george r.'s, or other states. i asked a rhetorical question -- when was the last time anything was micromanage from washington, d.c., and it worked? time is up. we have got to move from an entitlement society, and the only way we are going to get our hands around the runaway spending is we have to take those programs that had been misnamed entitlement programs. they started out as assistance programs. the only way that we are going to get our hands around this runaway spending is those programs have to be restructured and the state's given more responsibility and authority to do what they do best, and that is to deal with the people's problems at the state level. empowerment, not entitlement. [applause]

then my third guiding principle that i want to share with you is not about us, it is not about us. i am a founding father -- we must all now be the defending fathers. have to defend the life of the unborn -- we have to defend the life of the unborn. we must defend those principles that this nation was founded upon. we must defend it the future of this nation today, as a our time, our talent, and our individual treasures. when i was asked what ever gave you the crazy idea of running for president, this was not something that i had dreamed about all my life or aspired to

do all my life. if you are familiar with my background, in many instances i was compelled into position of leadership. cold journey for me, and i did not -- this journey for me and i did not know at that time, started in january, 1999, when my first grandchild was born. my wife of 42 years -- we have a 39-year-old daughter, 32-year- old son, and three grandchildren. and on january 2 date -- january 22, 1999, my granddaughter was born. i did not think i was going to make it back to the hospital from an out-of-town trip in time to be there when she was born. as a god of's will prevail, i did get there in time. when i got to the hospital, my wife came out and told me that

we now have a granddaughter. obviously, i was thrilled. we were both killed. room, and my daughter, are youy doing ok? she said yes. is that they be ok? she said yes. then my daughter said, that, would you like the whole it? yes, of course. i took this little 15-minute-old baby in my arms, that that little face, and the first thought that went through my mind was not about how do i ensure her future. the first alert the press thought that went through my mind was what do i do to help make this a better nation and a better world. that is where my journey started in order to be here for this honor the occasion, and so my third guiding principle is not about us.

it is about the grandchildren. it is not about us. ask any grandparent. even though the liberals, starting in the white house, are trying to change this nation, i have a quaking news announcement for president obama. the liberals in washington, d.c., and the liberals all over this great nation, the united states of america is not going to become the united states of europe, not on our watch. thank you.

>> our next speaker is the former speaker newt gingrich. his experiences as the son of a soldier convinced him at an early age that to dedicate his life to his country in the protection of freedom. realizing the importance of understanding the past in order to protect the future, he immersed himself in the study of history, receiving a degree from emory university. before his election to congress, he taught history and environmental studies at west georgia college. he was first elected congress in 1970, when he served in the sixth district of georgia. he was elected to the speaker

of of the house of representatives and in 1990. he has been called the indispensable leader, and "time- magazine" said, leaders make things possible, exceptional leaders make them and never will. newt gingrich belongs in the category of the exceptional. he was, the architect of the contract of america that led to the republican victory in 1994. under his leadership congress passed a welfare reform and pass the first balanced budget in a generation. they passed the first tax cut in 16 years. a strong advocate of voluntarism, he has long championed the positive impact every individual can have on society. he has raised millions of dollars for charity for causes of a broad array.

he is recognized for his commitment to the environment and the advance since -- advancement of common sense practices. he has published 20 books -- 23 books. he is changer -- chairman of the roup.gingrich g he serves as chairman of american solutions. he is a senior fellow of the american enterprise institute. he is a distinguished fellow of the hoover institute. he is also a news and political for the fox news channel. it is my pleasure to introduce to you tonight former speaker of the house, newt gingrich.

>> let me be totally candid. i just said the herman cain i am stealing as much of that as i can. talks this evening. herman and i go back a long way. everybody in georgia is proud of him. he is a remarkable person, and i first worked with him when we did a tax reform commission that featured recently when i was speaker. it is could be to be with ralph reed who are remember from his college republican badays. i am a grandfather and come at this with maybe a little more wisdom than i had a while back, but i want to start by saying

steve, you and the iowa faith and freedom coalition have done a great job tonight. this is a great time to start a dialogue about america's future. i believe that we have an extraordinarily fundamental choice to make about the very future of this country. i believe in some ways this election and the conversation around this election may be as central to our future as the conversations in the 1850's that led to the election of lincoln in 1860. where at a crossroads that we cannot hide from, and in my mind i am later than herman when describing his grandchild. have two grandchildren, and one of the central issues of our dialogue over the next two years is what kind of a country do we want to leave to our children and grandchildren. the turning point was when the ninth circuit court decided in

2002 that it was unconstitutional to say one nation under god as part of the pledge of allegiance in the school. i decided in some ways it was very parallel to lincoln responding to the dread scott decision about slavery. i decided if we now have judges so fundamentally out of touch with america that they have no clue what this country was based on, we need a political change so deep and so profound that nothing we have seen in our lifetime is comparable to the level of debt we have to go to get this country back on track -- level of depth and we have to go to get this country back on the right track. let me be very clear about this. since 1952, we have won nine presidential elections for republicans, and democrats have won six.

despite the fact that republicans were in the white house for 50% more democrats, we did not fundamentally changed the power of the left, the bureaucracies, the judiciary, and over that. they have all gotten worse, moved further to left, and become more alienated from the american system. that requires a fundamental conversation that begins i believe with the mayor and exceptional as some had a very simple question -- do you believe that this country, because of the declaration of independence and constitution, is a fundamentally acceptable -- exceptional system cannot or do you believe we are normal country like everywhere else in the world? it is a profound question. when a movie was made about pope john paul ii and the impact his

trip made in 1979, we call it nine days that changed the world. with discovered one of the great tools.ions -- elections' it said for poland tremaine poland, two plus two must always equal four. does not seem like much to you, but this may be the most important political government slogan of the next 25 years, because it comes down to the question of truth. lincoln said if a man can convince you that this equals anything but for, you cannot win the argument because faxed to not matter. there are times when a man can be killed for betwo plus two equals four because of artist cannot stand the truth. we hold these truths to be self

evident. it does not begin with we hold this ideology, philosophy. if we hold these truths. whether the troops? that we are endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights -- [applause] why does that matter. it means that power comes from god to each one of you personally. you are personally sovereign. you loan power to the government. that is the fundamental division between most americans and the secular socialist people around obama and the degree to which they did not understand america cannot possibly represent america, and cannot leave us to a successful future. rurality applies across the

board. morality is as important as economics. you have a right to get a job so you can donate to your voluntary religious organization, so you can donate. it is balancing the budget, it is an essentially moral, not economic question, about whether politicians should follow the same roles. there should be no distinction between economic, national security, and social security. we should all agree on these questions of fundamental reality. -- morality. we had a great speaker at last year, and i strongly iendorse plan to cut funding for planned parenthood. how can we turn the country

around? let's start on the first day. there's a system called an executive order that allows the president to interpret the application of law. imagine for examples. what if week on the first day we had a president who said we are now abolishing as of this minute every single czar in the white house and their offices. what if we said on the very first day, we are reinstating ronald reagan's mexico city policy, and no american tax money will go in the abortion anywhere outside the united states,. . what if we said on the very first day that george w. bush's

limitations of conscience protection will be reinstated so the government will act of the protect those as a matter of conscience who refused to do the things that the left wants done. finally, what if we sat on the very first day at the state department will be instructed as of this state to recognize the right of every sovereign nation to define its own capital, and the united states embassy will be in the capital that the country defines it, means that the united states embassy will be in jerusalem. the only country in the world where it refuses the local government to allow its embassy in the capital. we should stop on the very first day.

i am not yet a candidate. i am the process of exploring. you can go to newtexplores20 12.com. we are all lying to be on the same team after this is over. it will take all of us to defeat the left. we cannot just to feed the left in washington. we need 40 more house seats in washington. we need to pick up the state senate here. we need to strengthen the hand the government has. we need to recognize the 513,000 elected officials of the state and local levels, and only 537 in the federal level. we need then for the first time in 80 years to replace the governing structure of the left with the governing structure that is center-right, and we

need from the very first day to implement decisively every establishment of an american exceptional is some that recognizes the power starts with you and goes to washington when necessary. art does not start in washington with a bunch of judges and bureaucrats dictating to you what to do. thank you, good luck, and god bless you. attendeds roemer public schools. he went on to harvard university

where he received his degree in 1964. governor romer served four terms in united states congress. as a conservative democrat he broke ranks with his own party to vote for president ronald reagan. he was louisiana governor from 1988 until 1992, both a democrat and republican. during his tenure, unemployment in the state dropped by half. the state budget was balanced in all years. teacher pay was leaked to proformance street -- was linked to performance. since leaving office, he has been involved in a number of ventures, recently serving as the founder and ceo and president of business and first bank. it took no bailout money from

the federal government. governor roemer the father of three children. it is my pleasure to introduce you governor buddy roemer. >> thank you, and three grandchildren. i love those kids. i am honored to be with you in iowa at faith in freedom. i have always been a church- going methodist boy. from a cotton field in north louisiana. after a long. as a divorced man, 12 years i remarried some 10 years ago.

i married a piano player in a church next door to my own. scarlet. thank you, jesus. i now go to first methodist church nearly every sunday, said in the balcony, and then as the final hymn is sung, i go to the chapel at lsu and sit with my wife did the piano. faith and freedom, i am honored to be invited. let's get to it. i am pro-life, traditional values man. i am the only person thinking of running for president who was elected as a congressman and as a governor prep. i helped lead the bull

winkles. i worked with or reagan every day. i am proud that we helped turn this great country around. then i ran for governor of louisiana, served four years, beat and admittedly corrupt edwin edwards after he spelle -- span $12 million. we sold airplanes, limos, delayed paychecks, did not replace workers who quit. we forced the oil and chemicals to clean up the air and water. we dropped toxic emissions by 41%. we stopped prevailing wage. we anchored the unions, but we build on the right to work. we broke teacher tenure by testing teachers, to find out who can teach and we paid them 30% more.

if that was not enough to get the attention of the corrupt good old boy network, i changed parties while in office. i blamed president reagan. he was always on me, you should be a republican, but. the democrats at this date by strangled. there was no debate. i decided that we needed a debate. i decided louisiana needed to be -- the polls were horrible to do that. they said he will lose your reelection, and i did by a whisker. it was a tough battle. edwin edwards and david duke, how would you like to campaign

against them? we lost it by a whisper, and they both went to the penitentiary. [applause] for the last 15 years, i have been building banks, community banks, main street banks, banks that come to their greatness one loan that time, one person at that time. the old-fashioned way. main street, not wall street. this is not about my past. it is about our future. i think america is in trouble. the debt is amounting, and is resting on the chests of my grandchildren. spending is out of control. we spend $300 billion of month,

and we'd borrow $120 billion of that. we've borrowed from our enemies or our competitors -- china, japan, and the tyrants in the middle east. there is no end in sight, and the president's own budget, he has got to in years of deficit. he will add more to the national debt in his four years than all presidents or him combine. what is washington doing? thank god for the tea party. i noticed -- [applause] thank god for paul ryan and the republican party and steve king and others. washington is not about leadership. washington is not about the people. washington is about money and

reelection. had he figured it out? -- have you figured it out? i will tell you a story, the nation is hurting, and washington, d.c., is a boom town. how does that grab you? i tell you what they are addicted to. special interest money, all i want is access money, wall street money, to be to fail money. union money, the pac money, pac money back money, corporate money, a pharmaceutical money, all subsidy money, ethanol subsidy money, insurance money, tort reform money. the system is institutionally corrupt.

where are the people? they're left that. i go to washington once every two or three years, to spend a couple of days, see what the old boys are doing -- nothing. they have a fund raiser every night, and the old guys are auctioning off for their retirement so they can be a lobbyist. am i telling the truth? that is washington, d.c. there are guys that right health care bills of 2100 pages and they do not even mention tort reform or farmers to the will competition. they write banking bills and they are a joke. too big to fail is still allowed in this country, and banks are bigger than ever, and greedier than ever. wall street is not what it used to be, and they are not main street. i challenge the system. i challenge it. i declare my independence.

i will take no more than $100 maximum contribution from any individual, $100. i will take no pac money, and i report every name and address. why would i do it? the only way to do the things that newt wants to do or tim pawlenty, good people, or mr. cain, or anybody running, the only way to do it is have a president who is free, who is free to do the right thing, who was freed to lead. [applause] all people say, roemer is a smart guy, i went to harvard at 16, studied economics and got a master's degree from harvard business school, and build all these companies. yeah. it is not about how smart i am. they then go on to say, he

cannot win. he is running for governor. i am running for president, and it is $100. it is in reach of every family, even -- every person of faith. and we can take this country back again. they say he cannot win. you know what i need? one person out of every hundred. if i get one out of a hundred, i will have 3 million americans give a hundred dollars in the primary. we will raise $300 million. that is more than john mccain raised. it can be done, and then when the primary is over and you and i are -- on the purse, which will turn on the president of the united states. we will get two people out of 100 to join us, and we will raise $600 million, and we will let in. we will change this country.

i have always wanted to do it. i have always wanted to challenge what i saw when i was in congress. i did not take pac money then. i always wanted to send -- set a hundred dollar limit to walk across iowa, new hampshire, south carolina, and the proposition, make a deal. to free people, free people of faith, they should get involved. i want a president free to lead on energy independence. this nation ought to be freed from the middle east. [applause] when i said that policy, we can do it by the end of this decade, i will eliminate the ethanol subsidy. i want to tell you, iowa, and i will eliminate the oil subsidy.

the price of oil is $106 a barrel. what do they need a subsidy for? at the law takes -- out of 10 of every cornfield. four rows out of 10 that is not the hungry or necessary. -- four rows out of 10. you carved out the inefficiencies. but business principles there businessi.t. and standard software. we have to get rid of my little deal and your little deal, and put together our deal. i declare my independence.

i ask you to join me with $5 or $10 or $20 or $100. not anymore. i ask you to spread the word. i ask you to tell people that a seasoned warrior, against the special interest money, is in the race. i ask you to tell them that he is old enough to know what to do and young enough to get it done. [laughter] i ask you to tell them that he has been in business battles and political battles come from local to national. i ask you to tell them that he has the scars to prove fvalor and courage, and by god, he is a friendly man, too. finally, i know there are some who will dismiss our chances. they say do not considerdbuddy. he cannot win.

let's suppose that there is one of you here today, just one, who would reach out across old wounds and down the mississippi river and say, let's go, but the. just one. and that tomorrow he added one person to that. and the next day we doubled those. just people who say, buddy, washington is all special interest, and i am with you. in 21 days, we would have a million people. in 20 days, we would have america. we are this close. listen to me up, iowa. where this close to taking this country back. we're this close to doing the right thing. cannot think it is too big a job. i know all the other candidates are good people and they have pacs and they have airplanes.

all i have got is me and you. i think it is enough. when we declare our independence we are finished with our service i believe our nation will be stronger, freer, happier, safer, more at work, and more at peace than it is today. there will be surprises. there will be setbacks. but we will aim high, and i believe that america can compete again. i have been to china more times than all the others put together, including the president. i've watched the competitors up close. that is what i do. the cynics will say it cannot be done, $100 of the time. that is the only way to do it.

i am a book man. proverbs, 13:11. read it when you get home tonight. i will read you to lines. if honest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money makes it grow. [applause] as a young man at harvard, from the cotton farm, 16, never been away from home, my first airplane ride, i was there two days, 1960, and i met robert frost. a poet who was my hero. he was 80, 81. he wrote a poem hundred years ago, and i will read you four lines.

and going out to clean that pasture spring. i only stopped to rake the leaves away. and wait to watch the water clear, i may. gone long.e you come, too, iowa. we have rotten leaves covering our spring. we do not need a new spring. we need to clean what god gave us. i run to challenge the corrupt system. i run to dream of all the things that could be and make america that place for you. i am preparing to run for president. you come, too, iowa. you are our heart. thank you. [applause] >> you go, buddy!

>> tim pawlenty often says that people's politics are rooted where they come from. that is south st. paul minnesota, a blue-collar neighborhood that was the home to the largest stockyards in america when he was growing up. one of five children, his father was a truck driver, and his mom passed away when he was young. he worked hard and became the first in his family to graduate from college. while he went on to law school , his siblings went on to become homemakers and grocers, and they became the center of his life. although they were democrats, at least until when he became governor of minnesota in 2002.

i sure you his background because his leadership is rooted in the values he learned growing up. the values of hard work and family, and a promise of upward mobility. those values that guided him as governor, where he worked to of our people by reforming schools, cutting health-care costs, a lid on taxes. say no to taxes and spending is not easy anywhere, at him has gone towed to toe with democrats, unions, special interests. under his leadership, minnesota has flourished. the station has nation-leading health care, the highest school test scores, an economy that is doing significantly better than most of the other states. during his eight years, he was a champion for family values and set up for the rights of the unborn. while being a conservative, fighting the liberal minnesota

established and can be a lonely endeavor. he was fortunate to have his wife at his side for the last 22 years trip since they met, mary has also had accomplished career, serving as a district judge in minnesota and helping to raise their daughters. the family attends with dale church. it is my honor to introduce to you, the former governor of minnesota, tim pawlenty. >> thanks a lot. as president obama would say, you are welcome. as the story goes, then president lyndon baines johnson

assembled his team into the cabinet room of the white house, and he characteristically and loudly yelled out down the table, he said, moyers, who was the press secretary, why don't you start the meeting with a prayer. bill moyers began to pray down at the other end, and lbj belt out again, said, we cannot hear you down at the end of the room. as the story goes, moyers said, with all due respect sir, it was not you i was talking to. that is a great story about remembering where we get our help from, where we look to from our guidance and leisure. i want to thank the faith and freedom coalition for having their 11th annual gathering. it is very important. i want to thank chuck and the

leadership of this or a position -- of this organization. we have a lot of challenges in this country at this moment and in this intersection. i am reminded of another time when our country faced similar challenges. we had a brutal and difficult election but ronald reagan won the presidency. [applause] the country had almost seemingly insurmountable economic challenge. we had trouble abroad and security concerns, many of the same challenges we are facing today and in that january day that was overcast, ronald reagan came from out of the capital and he stood at the podium and said later he felt even though the day was overcast and that moment, he thought a beam of sunshine had hit him and warmed up the podium in a way in time

for his swearing in. he put his hand on the bible and took the oath of office as president of the united states of america and that bible was open to the second chronicles, 7-14. the passage says this. if my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turned from their wicked ways, i will hear from heaven, and forgive their sins and heal their land. and now reagan who could not have known, his mom wrote in the margins, "a great passage for healing the nation's." that was great direction. it is great direction in our time and it is great direction for the future of this country

for all time. we need to know where our help comes from. we need to be a country that turns toward god, not a country that turns away from god. [applause] this is not the rhetoric o. this is a founding premise. the thought it was so important, so profoundly important, the imbedded into the founding documents in this country. there are many eloquent examples, you know of them. i will give you a few by way of example. in the declaration of independence, it says we are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights. it does not say we are endowed by our member of congress or our bureaucrat, or our school board

member, our freedoms and privileges r grant, a blessing from our creator. we need to make sure we remember that and our freedoms are gift from our creator and constitution. it guarantees that will continue and 49 of the 50 states have language in the beginning of their constitution like iowa. like minnesota. in our constitution, similar to your language. our says -- powers says we the people of minnesota, grateful to god for our civil and religious liberties and it goes on to talk about the importance of perpetuating those blessings for future generations to come. we need to remember as others try to push or marginalize people of faith, we need to remember this and always remember it. the constitution was designed to protect people of faith from government, not to protect government from people of faith.

[applause] leadership matters a lot. the leaders nationally set the tone in the pace in the focus for our nation in these matters and we have a problem in washington, d.c. and we have some of the leaders there who believe the enormous moral debt in our country does not matter. it matters. just because we followed greece into democracy does not mean we follow the lead to bankruptcy. we have people who believe the unborn do not have a right to life. yes, they do. [applause] we have people who say, marriage

will be defined however we feel like defining it. no, it will not. it should be defined as between a man and a woman. [applause] we have people who believe that the judges in the elite and other should decide. they need to be reminded the constitution does not say, with the judge's or week, the media. or we, the elite. it says, we the people. we tell them what to do. they do not tell us what to do. [applause] i got a lot of folks who say this is tough. the country is divided. there's a lot of challenges. interest groups are powerful and it is difficult. you're looking at someone who is the conservative governor of the state of mccarthy, mondale,

humphrey, wellstone, and united states senator al franken. as frank sinatra would sing, if we can do it there we can do it anywhere. if you look at my record as governor, we have a record and this is important. chalk spoke about it today in the newspaper. as the conservative -- ask the conservative movement and people who have had their hopes high and been disappointed. we need leaders who can not just talk the talk but who can walk the walk. we need people that you know based on who they are and what they believe and why they believe that, who will stand in with their compass setting set right and move forward with fortitude and strength and courage and get the job done. in minnesota during my time as governor, we took spending down and reduced it for the first 150 years.w zero in on

we cut taxes even though we had recessions. we reformed one of the first states to do bold public employee pension reform. we were the first state to go statewide to have performance pay on teachers other than to pay them on security but performance. we did welfare reform and for reform and all the things the country needs and is talking about now. there are four governors in the country that got an "a" from the libertarian cato institute. one was in south carolina, in louisiana, west virginia, and i was the other one. i was the only one in the north half of the country that got that great. -- grade. [applause] none of that was easy.

in the single season record holder for issuing of visas -- videos. we had the first and only government shutdown in a 150- year eithehistory on my watch. we had one of the august transit strikes in the history of the country because our government bus drivers thought they should able to work 15 years and be able to have the government pay for their health insurance for the rest of their life. we took a strike, 44 days, shut down the transit system for months and a half the in the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country. we had the usual protests and the noises in sights and sounds. i had people standing outside my window with signs saying tim pawlenty is a weapon of mass transit destruction.

i would go around the state on this issue and many like it and say if you are not in government, how many of you get to work 15 years and have the government pay for your health insurance for the rest of your life? no hands ever win out. the the i would say, do you know that bus drivers get that? how they do? you are paying for that. we are? do you think we should shut that benefit of? heck, yeah. we got big issues to tackle and none of those are easy. those are examples of the kind of thing we tackle. it ain't gonna be easy. if prosperity were easy, everyone in the world would be prosperous and if security were easy, everybody in the world would be secure. if freedom were easy, everybody in the world would be free. but they are not. it takes extraordinary commitment, it takes

extraordinary strength to stand up to the people who oppose these principles. valley forge was not easy. settling the west was not easy. winning world war ii was not easy. going to the moon was not easy. this is not about easy, this is about rolling up our sleeves and plowing ahead and getting the job done. [applause] this is about our country. we, the people of the united states will rise up again. we will take back our government. we are the people of this country. this is our country. our founding fathers created it. ronald reagan personified it and abraham we can defend it. we need to do the same. now as ever, this nation under god will have a new freedom.

our government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth and will have the greatest nation can itand continue to. god bless you and god bless the united states of america. [applause] >> thank you. steve does not like his new name chuck, so i am sorry. [laughter] former senator rick santorum of pennsylvania was elected to the u.s. house of representatives in 1998 at the age of 32.

when 1995 to 2007 he served in the u.s. senate. in 2000 he was elected to the position of senate republican conference chairman. he became one of the most successful government reformers in our history. taking on washington's powerful special interests from the moment he arrived. along with john boehner and others he was one of the famous gang of seven that expose post office scandals and it was his record that prompted a reporter to write in a recent article that santorum was a tea party kind of guy before there was a tea party. he is the author of the welfare reform act that has empowered millions to leave the welfare rolls and enter the workforce. he wrote and championed the legislation that

[unintelligible] and the combatting autism act because he believes each and every individual by you and the most notably to be protected. he fought to maintain fiscal sanity in washington before was fashionable come out fighting for a line-item veto. he proposed reforming entitlements, cutting spending, and developing a spendometer. he served eight years on the senate armed services committee where he led the fight for the -- before the attacks of sept. 011 to transform our military to meet today's security needs. he was a leader on u.s.-israeli relations, offering the syria accountability and the iran freedom act which he fought to pass. despite initial opposition from president bush. he teamed up with president bush

to read these courage of aids and malaria from africa. he patted the 2005 best-seller, "it takes the family". he is now a senior fellow at the ethics and policy center. a contributor on the fox news channel. he is proud of his role of husband and father. they're the parents of seven wonderful children. it is my pleasure to introduce to you senator rick santorum. [applause] >> good to be with you and -- i

have done that a million times. sorry. it is great to be back. i was here at a smaller venue last year when we did this. this is exciting to be here. it is always the case when pete read the introduction, i can always count on the line that it's the most response. are the parents of seven children. i thought maybe not in this audience it would not get so much of a ripple. before left the seven children and karen, i told them this was not just another speech for me. the ones you always think of when you're on the campaign trail and you try out your economic speech or your social conservative speech or whatever. this is a group that is for faith and family and freedom. this is a group that means a lot

to me. this is a group that i have been attached at the hip from for a lot of years, working in the vineyards with people who stand for what america stands for. america is a great moral enterprise. it is not just about creating wealth or military strength. it is more than that. my grandfather came to this country and brought my dad at the age of seven. he did not come here because he needed a job. he had a great job in italy and worked on the postal train. he saw the father as a brown shirt in mussolini's youth corps and said that is not what he wanted for his children. he came to this country and worked until in the coal lands of western pennsylvania until he was 72 digging coal. i remember him very well.

i will never forget those powerful hands he had. he came here because he wanted to create the opportunity for his children not just to get rich. not just to the the be able to do whatever they wanted to do. but for my grandfather and generations of americans, america has been about doing what our declaration of independence says. doing what god has treated us to do, to follow his mission. america is not about great wealth or power. the purpose of america is you. the purpose of america is to create an opportunity for each and every person blessed to be in this country. to be able to live as they ought to live, as they were called to live. we all share values. america, i always say that if i

went back to my father's home country of italy and lived there for 50 years, i would not be an italian. when my father came here and learned england -- english and was able to live and be an american, he was an american because he accepted america as the idea is. america is about an idea and it has to be about shared value for what is it? -- or what is it? people say we should set these aside and have a truce. it is to wear. it is the purpose of our country. i have been out fighting in the wars on these moral issues. i can tell you, i had a chance to speak to which anderson who is the chairman of the judiciary committee. i was talking with him and we have been dealing with these marriage issues and abortion issues and it is tough. i have never been through the

assault i have been true over these last few days. i said welcome to the club. it is one thing to stand up in front of a group and talk about the things you believe in. it is another thing to go out and lead and fight for those beliefs. for my children, i always thought because i took the lead on the partial birth abortion and abortion and family issues, i was the conservative. i was involved in all sorts of cutting spending. the gang of seven. i was the conservative conservative. it was not until i stood on the floor of the senate next to barbara boxer and for our on and, debated are boxer. it was a special -- there is a special place in heaven for me as a result. [applause] after those debates, after i stuck my head out of the

foxhole, my children used to think my first name was ultra. once you stick your head out on the social issues, one to fight for the moral fabric of our country, you are labeled. you are labeled. it doesn't matter i was out working on welfare reform in 1996 and 1997. i read the contract with america welfare reform provision. that does not matter you were out. i was able to end a federal entitlement. i stood toe to toe with daniel patrick moynihan. and for the first time, a broad based federal entitlement and got some boats in the senate. almost half the democratic caucus. ultra. it can stand up and helped -- 54

health care reform. we were the first introduced the concept called medical savings accounts and we push that forward and developed a patient centered approach to solving the problems of health care and focus their energy and tried to change the system to make it more private sector oriented as i did on the finance committee. ultra. it can work and taking on as i did after the events of 9/11 and focused in and trietry to engage colleagues in the senate but even the president on the war of ideas. the war of ideas. who are we at war with? one of the great concerns when i ran in 2006 was we're missing something. we did not understand that we were losing the battle. not on the streets of iraq in 2006. we were losing it in america because the president did not trust americans enough to tell them who this enemy is and why.

what they want us to strike. was afraid to call it what they were. i gave a speech in 2006 and said this is not a war on terror. we are at war with jihadists. they it is because of who we are and they want to distress. we need to laid out for the american public and trust they will understand. i took on that battle. i continued to take on that battle. i spent four years traveling the country talking about the threats. i worked in the last couple years of my term and pass the iran freedom and of support at. to help the pro-democracy movement in iran. to plant seeds in all these muslim countries that are ruled

by dictators that are posed to us to have a peaceful revolution. where we can be helpful to them. and compare that to the strategies of this administration who sit by and watch as people died in the streets of iran and we took the side of the people who are developing nuclear weapons. we sat on the sidelines in as we do in libya. when khadafi -- gaddafi is attacking this country. i am ultra. why? because i share your values and i fought for them. i sit on the floor of the u.s. senate and offered a partial birth abortion act and i did not just offering. -- offer it. [applause]

i stood there and i fought day in and day out year in and year out. 1996, 1998, 1998, 1999. we fought and lost. we lost time and time again and we ended up losing because bill clinton would veto the bill and we the the not have the votes to override the veto. i continued to fight. i continue to stand up for life and god bless us. -- blessed us. [applause] hwo? how? for the first time since roe v. wade in the late 1990's, something dramatic happened. as we were talking about, remember what it was? a baby in the womb at least 20 weeks with arms and legs and eyes and ears, it is a baby. and it was being delivered all

but the head and killed. for the first time, the folks on the other side could not ignore that what was being killed was a baby. it was right there in the doctor's hands as the baby was almost delivered and killed by the doctor. for the first time since roe v. wade, attitudes on -- in public opinion polls changed about abortion and the continue to change. why? because we lost. had bill clinton signed that bill when we first passed it, no one would ever have heard of partial birth abortion but he did not. god blessed us for fighting the fight. we continued and we got it passed, overruling the supreme court and the supreme court said it was wrong and we passed a bill and said you are wrong. the first section said why they were wrong. [applause]

that procedure is banned. we were blessed. we stood up and fought for the unborn victims of violence act. that is if a child is killed by someone who harms the mother and is killed or injured, the law can treat that child as a child for purposes of criminal charges. talk about a house divided. how can we allow abortions and charge someone for the crime for killing the same baby? it depends if the doctor is allowed to or not. has consent to or not. finally, the born alive infant protection act. that is an important piece of legislation that will be something i will talk about a lot. if i ever get down the road a year plus now to meet with the president. that is a bill i offered and it was copied in all the other states.

everyone interest -- introduced their version. if a child born as a result of a botched abortion, that child is entitled to medical protection and treatment. it is a pretty simple bill. [applause] to my knowledge, there was only one person on the floor of any state legislature who stood up and oppose it. it happens to be the current president of the united states. who stood up and said that he opposed this bill because it would impinge on a woman's saidt under roe v. wade and sa any child prior to nine months of gestation would be able to be killed, otherwise it would impinge on roe v. wade. think about that. any child born prematurely

according to the president in his words can be killed. who was the extremist in the abortion debate? who is the ultra in the abortion debate? we have an opportunity in this election to frame a great moral cause. everyone wants to talk about the economy and it is important. it is vitally important. it is important to create jobs and to cut our deficit, it is important to control the size and scope of government, to repeal obamacare, but what is the mission, what is the what for? we have to paint a picture of an american-led that believes in you again. we have to paint a picture of america where americans believe in ourselves again. that is what is going on here. i referred to the entitlement

programs as a result of a conversation i had with juan williams at fox. i used to work there. i was in the green room and the president decided to double down and get this bill passed. who cared about the public opinions? he was going to have the house passed it. i said where you doing? you are going to destroy yourself in the election. the public is against what you are doing. what are you doing? he said, let me tell you. reid, pelosi, obama. we believe americans love entitlements and once we get you hooked on entitlement, they will never let it go.

sounds like nothing more than trying to hook someone like a drug dealer. is that what entitlements do, mccue dependent? make you feel less and what less? [applause] if that is not a moral issue, if what we're doing to the next generation, this entitlement attitude, if that is not a moral issue, i do not know what is. we have an obligation. we have an obligation as americans to do what my grandfather and father did for me. to leave our country better than we found it. a lot of tough things going on right now. i feel blessed to be here. i feel blessed to be here and i hope you do too. to be here at a time when america that needs you.

we're at a crisis point here at home and our deficits and culture. every place is that the turning point. it is a crisis but what a blessing. america needs you. put on aot need tyou to uniform and fight a war. put your citizen cap on and go out and fight to make america the country at least as good, much better than what you were given. that is the blessing and god will be faithful. if there is anything i've learned from the wars are fought in washington, if you are faithful to this great country, he will be faithful to you. i will close with the story of faith. it was during the partial birth debate. i had debated barbara boxer, six hours on the floor. it was it o'clock p.m. and i was just about to go home. the senate was closing down and

i said, there was something i needed to do more. i thought maybe if i stay on the floor and argue, maybe some senators who do not have a life are watching c-span like they're doing now. maybe i can convince them to change their vote. i went back and call my wife and said -- at the time we had four children. do you mind, it is late and i will not get home until after the kids are asleep i feel called to do this. she said what she always said. if you feel what -- this is what god is calling you to do. i said i will be 20 minutes. an hour and a half later, i finished the speech. i talked about these children whose mothers and fathers had to fight to find a hospital so they could be born.

it was easy. they could find places to be aborted but they could not find a hospital where these disabled children who are the target of partial birth abortion, the could not find a hospital. i talked about these miracles. we had to vote the next day and we lost. i thought, what a failure. i had gone home to wait to talk the kids in and karen was asleep. i was a failure as a father and husband. five days later, an e-mail came. it came from a student from michigan state who said, five nights ago, i was looking through c-span and i saw you talking about these children. my girlfriend and i stopped and as we watched, i noticed the tears were running down her face. i asked her what is wrong and she looked up and said, i am pregnant and i have an abortion

scheduled for next week but i will not have it anymore. [applause] the young man said, did not win that battle to overturn the veto but you saved a life of my child. god will be faithful if you do your part and are faithful to his country. we will reclaim this land and make it greater. thank you and god bless you. [applause] >> before we do the closing prayer, i want to say thank-you.

2000 people are attending and i want to say thank you, and i want to say thank-you to 150 media representing the press. a lot to say thank you to all the speakers and -- i want to say thank-you to the speakers and to tom allen and to the staff of this church to make this possible to have a successful evening. and pastor steve russell will close this with a prayer. thank you for attending and have a safe trip. thank you. >> let's pray. father, in the name of jesus, we

want to thank you for tonight and thank you for our strong christian heritage and we thank you for these men who decided to stand up for righteousness. your words said when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoiced. we thank you in the day that you live that you continue to strengthen us with your spirit. we want to give you praise and thanksgiving that you are a weakening your church, the body of christ, you have given eyes to see and ears to hear what the spirit of god is saying in this hour for our nation and thank you that these five men represent the freedom fighters that are in this room, we continue to fight to get our freedom back. forgive us for allowing the uncontrollable spending and other government sponsored and saturdays and immorality that have gripped our nation. with us into the restoration of biblical wedding and contact in our areas of life, individually, family, church, and government.

we give you praise and honor glory in the precious name of jesus, we ask this. amen. [applause] some hope to be running for

president in 2012.

>> watch for more road to the white house coverage. here is more about the political landscape and who is likely to run for president in 2012. >> tom amod is the chief political reporter.

who has not been here? >> newt gingrich and congressman michelle bachman. mitt romney is taking a lower profile into 2012. the big-name, sarah palin, has not been here very much. >> this has been a leader start from past cycles. what does that mean? >> has been talk about the late start. it is on the same page. people are out for me exploratory committees. the traffic in iowa has been intense. the midterm traffic was not what it was in the 2008 cycle. >> what happens under the radar? who was talking to whom? what are they talking about?

>> when they show up, they will hold these private meetings and the meet with the governor. they meet with key interest groups and the state party leaders. these are private meetings aimed at showing their face, suggesting there will be here once the campaign starts to roll. >> what you expect over the next few months? >> marches the unofficial kickoff. we have events like this. a very important constituency. that kicks off a busy march and in april, it will get busier. we will have people like haley barbour finishing their legislative sessions. we will have more candidates as spring rolls on. >> is this a time to one of the activists? >> you spend the money. it is lighting up the activist outside iowa and rolling forward is when they will start raising money. >> there is some speculation the

date of the caucus could move. what is the likelihood it could move to an earlier date? >> republicans would like to keep reagan's birthday as the kickoff of the cycle. it seems to depend on what happens in new hampshire with the secretary of state there. he is sensitive to that primary and we will wait to see what he does. >> what makes different from a primary? >> as is a meeting, a precinct level meeting of party activists who every year and only during presidential years do they choose a presidential nominee. it is a close-knit neighborhood level political meeting where people stand up and voice their opinions and argue. it is different than a primary. >> in terms of organizing, what goes on? what is happening? >> there is a lot of calls for the republican party and cochairs and the secretaries.

it is at the grass roots that this starts off. >> thank you for being with us. >> it was a pleasure. >> in a speech today, california congressman henry waxman was critical of republicans for their attempts to block the epa from regulating greenhouse gas emissions. that is next. the president of npr talks about federal funding for public broadcasting. we will hear from james woolsey. washingtonw's " journal", michael hayden will talk about the situation in libya. then on the recent budget debates over education spending. after that, we will talk with a reporter for "the new york times". "washington journal" at 7:00

a.m. eastern. and later in the morning, the cochairs of the president's commission on the federal debt testified before the senate budget committee. the commission's final report called for $4 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years. live coverage at 10:00 a.m. eastern. >> there is no way to get a review of the day's events. it is "washington today". we will take you to capitol hill, the white house, and anywhere news is happening. we will talk with the experts, politicians and journalists as we put the day's events into perspective. the stories that matter to you the most. every weekday from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on c-span radio. it can listen in the washington- baltimore area or xm radio or go online. you can download the program every evening as a c-span podcast.

>> now, congressman henry waxman talks about climate change legislation. mr. waxman, who was the ranking democrat on the energy and commerce committee, said president obama should oppose spending bills that and the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. he spoke at the center for american progress for an hour. quex good morning, everyone and welcome. i am chairman for the action fund. i am pleased you could join us for this morning's discussion with congressman henry waxman. representative waxman is one of the most determined and effective progressive advocates in congress today. we all know that he has his hands full defending against a barrage of attacks on great energy and public health programs. it is a special thanks to the congressman for taking time out

of your schedule. thank you for being willing to come here and speak to us. i want to start by taking a moment to recognize your hard work on the american queen in ag and security act in the previous congress. the house passage was a success. it would have lowered production costs by spurring investment in clean energy technology while controlling costs. thanks to his leadership, it had broadbased support that it needed to win final approval in the house of representatives. unfortunately, [unintelligible] from passing complementary legislation and given the hill, we'reoliticacapitol

unlikely to see a similar package,. the bill pointed the country in the right direction. i have no doubt that the u.s. will move down the path of -- outlined by chairman waxman and congressman markey. the center for american progress and the fund had focused on shaping strong markets, investing in world- class infrastructure. they will create certainty for clean energy investors and businesses while building a foundation for robust future growth. these technologies will help the largest polluters reduce their carbon dioxide pollution under rules to be set by the environmental protection agency. another area of our focus remains ending our independence -- our dependence on foreign oil. did we need another week of call? oil prices are at their highest

level. before the spike that was caused by the turmoil in north africa and the middle east. imported oil already accounted for half of our trade deficit. you would think congress would act with haste to bring on technologies that would increase efficiency and switch our fuel mix to less volatile domestic supplies. what was the house's response? to cut investments in oil and programs including public transit, high-speed rail, and programs to help factories retooled to make cleaner cars. that is insanity masquerading as fiscal discipline. we are not without hope since it does not appear the administration will get much help from the current house majority. it will need to do more with current authorities including setting fuel economy standards for 2017 through 20/20 five

model years that follow up on the initial improvements that were going into effect this year that were settled in 2009. it needs to complete a first of all fuel efficiency standards for heavy-duty trucks. it can encourage congress to increase the availability of incentives for people to buy super efficient cars and electric vehicles and create incentives to move fleet vehicles to run on domestically produced natural gas. the administration can take some short-term steps to protect businesses and families, including making oil available through a strategic petroleum reserve release and encouraging to come out of -- to crack down on speculators to keep oil prices down. as we push for to meet the short-term rates, we would do well to remember our broader

vision for cleaner energy and why we set out to do this work in the first place. moving our economy to a clean energy path requires us to modernize our infrastructure, to invest in high-tech research and revitalize our manufacturing center to build these technologies and export them to the rest of the world. it means building up the skills of our work force so american workers can succeed at the millions of new jobs a clean energy economy will create. our competitors are added. we need to be added as well. by building a new industries and building up technologies that other countries will want to use, we will make our economy stronger and far more competitive. representative waxman has much more to say about this clean energy vision and the challenges and opportunities of making it a reality. it is my pleasure to recognize the congressman and get the conversation started. henry waxman represents the

30th district in california. he chaired that committee as well as the committee on oversight and government reform. throw his 35 years in service, the he has championed environmental and public health protections, introducing the first, bill in congress in 1992, serving as the author of the 1990 clean air act that stop acid rain and as i mentioned, offering the american clean energy and security act of 2009. he is a longtime advocate of issues from medicaid improvements to prevail and long-term care. he was a tremendous leader in crafting the historic patient protection act and affordable care iraq. there is no better champion on capitol hill working to make the vision, the clean energy vision a reality. we are excited to have the congressman today.

after he speaks, we will have a q&a. it is a tremendous honor to have a year. the podium is yours. [applause] >> thank you for that very kind introduction. i am delighted to be with you and your colleagues here the center for american progress. i want to salute the outstanding work that you do. this morning, i want to speak to you as bluntly as possible. during my career in congress protecting health and the environment has been my top priority. during those years, i have been in many battles. i fought president reagan's efforts to roll back the clean air act in the 1980's and went on to pass landmark 1990 clear -- clean air act revisions over the opposition of many

industries until we were able to work out a bipartisan consensus. i battled efforts by vice- president dan quayle and his council on competitiveness. tom delay and the case tree project, and president george w. bush and vice president dick cheney's efforts to roll back the law on the environment. i have never been in a congress where there was such an overwhelming disconnect between science and public policy. the republicans in congress have become the party of science deniers and that is profoundly dangerous. exhibit a in the republican attack on science is the upton inhof bill. that carbon emissions endanger health and welfare. when we had a hearing, senator in halimhof said climate changea

hoax. the newly republican majority in the house has a lot of power to write in rewrite our nation's laws, but they do not have the power to rewrite the laws of nature. cancer and they cannot stop climate change by declaring it a hoax. findings andepa's stripping it of regulatory authority will not stop carbon pollution from building up andrew will not stop the droughts and floods that are ravishing nations across the globe. it will not protect the air quality of our cities when summer temperatures soar to record levels and it will not stop the strange weather patterns that looked much of our nation into a deep freeze this winter. the republican rejection of

science is also visible at to h.r. 1, the concurrent funding resolution. it is a reckless assaults on our laws. it will strip protections. they do this by cutting the funding is for the epa by almost one-third. epa and the states will have neither the authority nor the resources to carry out the clean air act, ensure safe drinking water, protect rivers and lakes or cleanup. that is not all. when the legislation hit the floor, republicans adopted the amendment after amendment saying no funds could be used because they could not change law but they could say no funds could be used to do a lot of important things like requiring cement kilns to clean up toxic mercury

emissions which demonstrate our children think and learn. they barred the epa from considering the impact of air pollution from oil and gas drilling along the arctic coast. they defended efforts to protect water quality in the chesapeake bay and florida. they it asserted protections against the worst mining practices, they prevented regulation of toxic coal ash and set to block the funding to set air quality standards to protect against life-threatening pollution. with a direct attack on federal efforts to understand that prevent climate change, they defended epa's efforts to reduce carbon emissions and prevented the u.s. from supporting the work of the intergovernmental panel on climate change, the leading

body studying climate change. this prompted "the new york times" to write an editorial yesterday entitled, "on clement, who needs the facts?" it apparently no matter is what scientists think. all that seems to matter is what industries make. -- coke industries thing. i wanted to describe the disconnect between science and political belief that is so prevalent today. i want to share some thoughts about the forces behind this disconnect, and i want to talk about what we can do about it. the growing gulf between evidence and facts on the one hand and political positions and beliefs on the other is not limited to environmental policy. there is a consensus among economists that federal

spending, under the recovery act, saved millions of jobs and pulled our economy back from the brink of a depression. during the campaign in november, republicans ran on the platform that the economic stimulus undermined our economy and destroyed jobs. in the current debate over the cr, republicans claim that cutting federal spending will create jobs and grow the economy. the consensus among economists and market analysts is exactly the opposite. enacting the cuts republicans have proposed will cost hundreds of thousands of jobs. one of the sharpest manifestations of the disconnect between reality and rhetoric is in the area of climate change. every year, the scientific evidence on climate change and grow stronger. last year, our national academy

of sciences reported climate change is real and it is a serious threat. the academy found climate change is occurring, it is caused by a human activity and poses a significant risk for and is already affecting a broad range of human and natural systems. this is the same conclusion reached by the premier scientific organizations of all the world's major economies. the impact, the findings have come to about the impact are beginning to be felt. last year was the hottest and wettest year on record. even bigger floods submerged much of pakistan and australia. other regions of the world

the reaction of many on the republican side has spent to deny the science. this is politically convenient to because if you reject the science, the imperative to act vanishes. but it is incredibly irresponsible. half the republicans in the house and three-quarters of the republican senators believe that climate change is exaggerated or a hoax. those are staggering numbers. there is an overwhelming scientific consensus that scientific -- that can enchains israel. most republicans in congress -- that climate change is real.

i approached him about working together to produce a bill that would be bipartisan. he said, i do not believe in the science. why do i want to work with you to solve a problem that i do not think exists? this year, the chair of our environment subcommittee is representative -- he is also a science denier. he said that he does not believe in climate change because god said the earth would not be destroyed after the flood of note. -- noah. we were debating the energy bill in 2009, he agreed that climate change was a serious problem. earlier this year, we told -- he told a reporter that he did not believe that humans have a role in causing climate change.

and deny that climate change is a problem, how do you start a conversation about solutions? they say there is no problem so we do not need to reduce emissions. we do not need to set clean energy standards. we do not need to invest in new technology. a common perception is that energy and environmental issues are more regional than partisan. for most of my career, that has been true. but this is no longer true today. the republican party is increasingly the anti environment party and i believe it is one of the root causes of the rejection of science. during the debates over the 1990 clean air act, there were both democratic and republicans

environmental champions. president george h. w. bush campaigned on strengthening the clean air act. republican rep jerry lewis from california was a close ally of mine on the provisions to reduce and control the vehicle emissions. rep ed madigan from illinois was a close ally on the provisions to reformulate gasoline because of the potential market for renewable fuel. our major obstacle was not partisan politics. it was u.s. industry. car companies said they could not meet new standards. the chemical industry said they could not meet the new toxics standards. the provisions to eliminate would destroying cfc's

shut down hospitals. the oil industry said they could not make cleaner-burning -- the acid rain provisions would cause electricity rates to skyrocket. ultimately, we were able to forge bipartisan regional coalitions and to enact a law in 1990 that was stronger than the leading environmental bill from the previous congresses. once laws were enacted, industry found ways to meet the new standards at minimal cost. this guy did not fall like industry predicted. instead, it got a lot cleaner. the debate last congress over clean energy and climates legislation was fundamentally different preyed on the democratic side, regional issues still matter.

industry and republican members approached the issue in new but completely divergent ways. the new industry approach was a welcome change. they wanted a clear direction for the nation trade they told congress that they could achieve aggressive goals as long as the park -- policies are well structured. they could put a lot of people to work doing it. what was motivating support for business was the desire after years of debate for certainty about the way for words. the u.s. climate action group was formed by ceo's from business and environmental organizations. they acknowledge that global warming must be addressed and they issued a call to action. each weighed a late -- each year we delay action increases the risk of unavoidable consequences that could necessitate steeper

reductions in the future and potentially greater economic costs and social disruption. they recommended the prompt enactment of a national legislation in the united states to slow, stop, and reverse the growth of greenhouse gas emissions over the shortest period of time achievable. that was a remarkable change. it was not easy, but we entered into a process with indices stakeholders enforce a comprehensive energy and climate policy. as a result, we had a remarkable coalition urging passage when the american clean energy act came to the house floor. unlike our previous -- we had a bill that was endorsed by energy companies and utilities, including duke, exxon, shell.

we had support across the manufacturing sector, including the general electric, to no motors, dow chemical, and rio tinto. and major agricultural interest was on board. including the national farmers union, the american corn growers, and the national association of wheat growers. in the senate, there was a republican reaction. despite the support for the legislation from industry, which republicans used to pay attention to, republicans in both the house on the senate made a decision to turn the energy bill into a partisan battleground. our legislation was modeled on a successful cap-and-trade approach used in the 1980's clean air act to control acid rain. this was an approach that president george h. w. bush and

other republicans had championed as a market-based way to achieve environmental results. even though we were using a republican idea as our cornerstone, and had industry support, no republican in the senate would support the bill. as a matter of strategy, the republican efforts to demonize our bill may have made political sense. it set back our efforts to address climate change and achievement -- achieve energy independence by many years. protection of the environment is now a partisan battleground and on the preeminent environmental threats of war time, climate change, we cannot even agree whether there is a problem. another force contributing to the emergence of science denial is growing power of some special interests.

that is also changing the nature of our politics. special interests have always been part of the political landscape. our campaign finance laws always placed limits on the extent of their influence. as a result of supreme court decisions, a company like coke industries could pour millions of dollars into electing legislators who agree with their agenda. an insightful article was written last october in "the new york times" about the two-party and climate change. skepticism and outright denial of global warming are among the articles of faith of the tea party movement. he quoted one key party leader who called climate change a flat out lied. another movement leader said, some people said i am extreme. but they said the thing about the judge burke society.

the article described how fossil fuel industries provided backing for the tea party movement and encouraged them to adopt the anti signs of use. money seems to have a lot to say about these views. americans for prosperity, an organization closely linked to cope industries, played a leading role in these efforts. here is some money, we are against government. we want freedom to do whatever we want. we do not want government regulation. we do not want those people telling us how to behave. we do not want them telling us that science is on our side. it is a hoax. in this last election, there was the addition of new members with extreme views that reject the consensus of our top scientists.

science denial, partisanship, and the rising power of special interest are deeply intertwined and they feed off each other. coke industries benefited immensely from the rollback of regulations. it? republican candidate to advocate this position. it comes groups that attacks science and organizes anti regulation demonstrations. republican strategists, attacking efforts to climate change so that leads to a growing acceptance of science denial. this is not -- this is one that we need to face to figure out how to change. i want to offer three suggestions for the path forward. we need to preserve the administration authorities. while congress has been debating

what to do, president obama and his administration have been taking important steps administratively and pursuant to the recovery tax legislation. as a result of the administration's leadership, the vehicles will be cleaner and more fuel-efficient than ever. this has eased up projected need for oil and oil imports. even if we're able to take no more action, -- this new reality turns to the old debates. as a result, we are seeing a plug in electric vehicles, there been domestically manufactured for the first time. advanced battery manufacturing. it has begun in the u.s.

we have established a robust policy to encourage renewable energy projects and energy efficiency efforts. congress is not likely to enact a new energy policy this year or next. whatever progress will be made needs to come from the obama administration. we need to encourage the administration to take full advantage of their existing authority and make sure that they are not reverted to congress. that includes protecting the environmental protection agency. secondly, we need to educate the public about what is happening in washington. it is a republican mantra that they are pursuing the will of the people. but that is not what they're doing. they are anti science, anti environmental agenda. it may be the will of the oil companies, but it is not what

american families want. republican leadership in congress is overreaching. we need to take full advantage of that fact. an informed public is our best weapon for advancing clean energy and reasonable regulatory policies. we need to tell the american people that not only is climate change eye steak, -- at stake, but as well as clean and safe food, pharmaceuticals, all the places where they look the government to regulate needs to be strengthened and not strict. finally, we need to find a way to work together across party lines to address climate change and are dependent on foreign oil. you might think at this point that that is going to be impossible.

neither democrats nor republicans can solve these problems by ourselves. we need to find a way to forge a consensus. that takes time. i know as i have worked on many bills over the years, it took time to develop legislation to confront hiv aids. it took a lot of time to get legislation to regulate the battle at the fda. it took time to do a lot of other things like the clean air act. i remember when we were looking at the tobacco industry. we had science so clear, but the tobacco industry still denying the science, some people to think perhaps that science was the all that settled. the cost of delay on tobacco policy were enormous. millions of people became hooked

on tobacco and died. what alarms me about climate change is that we do not have decades to wait. we do not have decades to wait because our international competitors know that economic success depends on winning the race of environmental technologies. they have become the world's largest manufacturers of solar panels and wind turbines. europe is racing ahead of us in reducing carbon emissions and developing advances in solar energy and green buildings. if we did not act soon, we will lose these markets and the act -- the jobs they create to china and other countries. congress and the american people need to be educated about the science. but they also need to learn about the economic

disadvantages to us as a nation if we do not seize the initiative. last congress -- companies like general electric and duke energy told us that billions of dollars in private capital had been frozen because the united states did not have a long-term plan for reducing carbon emissions. after the election, one of my colleagues said, we should never have been dealing with climate change. what people want that, our jobs. that is a complete disconnect between the jobs that would be created if we took the action to deal with the climate change problem. that is the affirmative reason that we have got to act. there are other costs for inaction. they can even be more profound.

our weather is getting more extreme and more dangerous every year. droughts are affecting the world's food supply. floods in pakistan and other countries have displaced millions. many of our forests are dying. scientists warn of tipping point that could be possible to reverse. that is why i keep coming back to the science. if the scientists are right, we are facing a problem that we cannot avoid. we cannot delay action and we cannot strip epa of its authority. we cannot hope that this problem will go away. in fact, we know that doing nothing will make these problems worse. we know that carbon emissions remain in the atmosphere for hundreds of years and more. that means the delay will mean far deeper and costly productions tomorrow. speaking of tomorrow, on this

tuesday, we are having an important hearing in our committee. the democrats use our rights under the rules that exist on the hearing on climate science to their credit. they scheduled the hearing for tomorrow. we have invited four leading climate scientist to testify. we did not think that the senator should be the only person to talk to our committee about science before we pass legislation. i am going to tell my republican colleagues that i am not -- i am willing to work with them on new approaches and creative ideas. we can start with a blank piece of paper. there are many ways to make progress on climate change.

we can invest in research and development of clean energy technology. we can promote energy efficiency. we can send a clean energy standard. we can build a smart grade and we can put a price on carbon. i have my own days on all these issues. -- and i have my own and views on all these issues. i know that we need to find a way to work across party lines. i will tell republican counterparts that we want to work with them. i am hopeful, as i was on all those other issues where we ran into a wall that seems impossible to overcome, that we will start to work together. we need to be working side by side on a bipartisan basis.

i want to conclude by -- not to give up hope that that can happen to write i want to conclude -- happen. i want to conclude with reflections on a historical context. climate change is an economic issue. it is also fundamentally a moral issue. we have an opportunity to act now. we had that kind of an issue another times in our history. we had during the civil rights movement. leaders stood up and said, this is an issue that will not go away and must be resolved. the time has come. i think climate change is such an issue. if we do not act, we will not meet our moral ability to shape

our future. we will not meet our moral obligation to our children and future generations. history will not judges kindly. our path forward may look for bedding, our journey may be longer than we hoped. but we have to keep in mind the moral imperative to act. the economic imperative to act. the environmental imperative to act. we have to keep pushing, working, and we will overcome. i just hope it will not take so many years that we will find that we will be putting more money into adaptation to deal with the harm from climate change then we would in developing the technology that will allow us to deal with this problem. thank you very much. [applause]

>> thank you so much. that was very inspiring. i am going to ask a cute -- a quick question and then i will open up to the floor. you made an important point about the shift from this being a regional issue to a partisan issue. i was wondering, you also made a point about emerging industries that have been helped by -- dec anyway for word -- forward that is a regional approach as well -- in a way that my kind of bridge the ideological gas? >> that is an excellent point. people need to --

representatives need to hear from people they represent. there is an issue on the floor of the house of representatives were the start, we need jobs, jobs, jobs. and then they go on to another topic. but we do need jobs. and this approach will produce a push the economy forward. it will drive for the economy and i think it may well be the only way we will ever close the deficit. we will produce the growth in our economy and i am open to the idea of using some of the bonds -- funds to help reduce the deficit itself. people togot to get have a stake in all of this to tell their representatives that this is a jobs issue, not something that is based on some

theory that environmentalists thought of to scare people. that is what a lot of people believe. >> thank you. i want to open it to depress first. -- the press a first. briefly about the role of the administration now that congress appears to be paralyzed. are you persuaded that they have the tools and the resources on the political will to take the action? >> i believe the administration has the tools, the ability, and the determination to act. they've kept in mind the political opposition, which has led them to modify some of the proposed regulations. when the modified recent regulations, they made it quite strong. the ease up on some of the

industry concerns. there is nothing wrong with the epa and other regulatory agencies looking at the cost of regulations and tried to figure out how they will achieve the results with the least amount amount of destruction to the people affected. the head of the station has got to stand up to the republicans. -- the devastation has got to stand up to the republicans. -- the administration has got to stand up to the republicans. they have got to fight this out. the republicans have made it a battle grounds. they will but the other bills a battleground. they cannot shut the government down on this issue. they've got to have their bluff called. i expected the administration to stand up and be counted.

it is one of the key planks upon which the president said he wanted to become the leader of our country. he wanted to lead on education, health care, and the environment. if we cannot get to a major bill through in the environment as we did in health care, we'll be stuck to use all the tools of our disposal -- we at least talk to use all the tools at our disposal. the clean air act, which the supreme court has told us on a 5-4 basis, includes legislation. the way the epa has handled putting forth a tailored clothes will -- rule to stop emissions from major sources that make new improvements or yet to be built to greater

efficiency was a thoughtful approach and will be a very important contribution to reducing the carbon emissions as best we can until the congress and the american people insist on doing more important legislation, which i think requires putting a price and carbon. >> thank you. >> well you have been talking, one of my colleagues reported that the energy and power subcommittee is going to start the market up on thursday. what will you do to stop it? can you stop? >> i have to face the reality that in our committee, it will be hard to stop legislation with which i disagree. i will have to make the argument as best i can. i think i can make them quite well.

we will lose the votes in committee and may even lose the vote on the house floor, but we are making the argument for the senate and for the administration and for the american people. passing a bill out of committee and at of the house does not produce a lot. it is something that i relearned last year. and republicans are going to learn this year. >> good point. in the other press questions? -- any other press questions? >> good morning, congressman. i'm a freshman at george washington university studying political science. i'm originally from los angeles. since i am from the l.a. area, i am eager to see the outcome of the yet to be called special election in california's 36 district. several candidates have already

deposed their candidacies. my question is, you describe yourself as a bipartisan legislator, but -- defending public health and energy part of that criteria? have you endorsed a candidate across party lines? >> i want to work with those who get elected from the other side of the aisle. but i am a democrat and i support democrats. it is easier to get things done with people who share a basic political philosophy, even though we may not agree on every issue. my first choice is to get a democrat elected. i make no predictions what will happen after redistricting in california. we have a new law in california that the top two candidates will run against each other.

in that district, we will elect a democratic -- a democrat. i think elections are the key to our democracy, but they should be conducted and after they are over, we have to govern, not continue the campaigns. one of the unfortunate contributions of someone like newt gingrich is that the election campaigns never ended. he and tom delay thought it was all political all the time. it was always for the next election. at some point, we have to say, that election is over. we have to deal with each other. that does not serve the american people. what can we do? that is my bipartisan philosophy. i recommend you as a student of

political science, read this terrific vote. that is it. "the waxman reports." in each chapter, i go through a different issue. not always a consensus from all republicans and all democrats, but i can say clearly that almost all the bills that i offered became law have republican support. it may not have been what they have put -- they would put on the agenda. >> you planted him in the audience. >> i think you have a future in california. >> i am a retired scientist. one of the issues that you did not mention is that it is a

national security issue. the defense to part -- the defense department has done studies. would you enlist the military to come to congress and explain why -- what their views are on climate change. maybe they have some influence on the republicans. >> that is an excellent point. last congress did have testimony from the military about national security threats. there is so much tumult and the middle east and oil prices are spiking that are dependent on foreign oil makes us beholden to those countries, most of which did not have a national security interest in mind. we have to worry that a revolution in libya can drive up the price of oil and even when

there is no apparent shortage. the psychology of its is so important. many people will say, that means we have to become dependent by drilling more year in the united states. we need to keep in mind that we consume 25% of the world oil resources. we drill and available to our own people 3% of the world's resources and oil. we're not going to match that 25% consumption. in possible -- it is impossible even to contemplate. we can move away from our dependence on oil and over all. that will have an important impact on lowering the price of the world market for oil and will have an important impact on

making our country much more secure. >> any other questions? >> my name is george walter. one of our concerns is -- it is a grave situation. this bill that happened in kingston the destroyed over 300 acres and put people in dire straits and the emery river had arsenic and mercury. but we have been trying to do is divide the solution for that. we have met with epa, usda, because if you could mediates -- remediate, we have looked at

taking that combining it with my new are -- manure and coming up with an organic supplements with every and tradition -- reintroduction of trace minerals. what it does is optimize production. plant growth and production. at this stage, we are battling with epa and the usda to look at what we have. they have invited us to, and they have looked at its, but there is still that way to -- wait. as you probably know, there are over 600 landfills over 35 states. >> one of the writers that

passed in the house was to stop epa from acting in this area. the epa is talking to you and to others. this is toxic air pollution problems. it causes cancer and birth defects. in the case of mercury, it poison our kids. the republican majority wanted to stop the epa from acting. your frustration is to get the epa to act. there are some rules and regulations that the republicans want to stop that and then in the process of being developed over a 10-year period trade is an incredibly long period of time when you recognize how many people other than hertz. it took lawsuits -- how many people have been hurt. it took lawsuits. the epa is determined to deal responsibly with their

obligations under the law. we will continue to conduct oversight to be sure that they are doing what they need to do. republicans may be doing oversight in the opposite direction, but we will continue to push the epa. >> that brought up the interesting bigger question. you talked a lot about holding the line. the line.